Re: Making the Association aims more clear -- proposal

[MJ Ray]

Davi Leal <address@hidden> wrote:
> MJ Ray wrote:
> > > Also, I would remove the world "professional".  It has negative
> > > connotations that someone is only doing a task because they are paid
> > > to do so, not because they want to do it anyway.
>
> John Darrington wrote:
> > I disagree that the word has "negative connotations", or that it
> > implies that pay is the incentive.

  professional a. engaged in a profession; engaged in a game for
  money; - n. paid player.  (Collins English Dictionary 1985)

Compare also, professional lobbyists with FSFE lobbyists... can you
see why "professional" is not a happy word?

> > To me a "professional" is someone
> > who performs a service, and in doing so assumes an extra duty of care
> > (over and above that expected by non-professionals).  In order to
> > allow the professional  to perform this service on a regular basis,
> > (s)he would normally charge a fee for service.

Well, to me, a professional is a paid player, someone who is
performing the service primarily *because* they can charge a fee for
it, and any extra duty of care is only if it is placed on them by
regulations.  (Ever read a big-firm accountant's terms of service? The
ones I've seen tried to avoid responsibility for all problems, even if
caused by their errors.) Sometimes even the fees are "normal" - set by
norms - else some professionals wouldn't charge a fair price.

A CEO is usually a professional - most people will only take on that
responsibility if they are paid.  I think the sort of free software
author most needed are the artisans, crafters, people who would take
on that responsibility even if they didn't need to earn a living. (Of
course, I want them to be paid.)

> > Removal of the word "professional" means a total change from what I
> > had understood the organisation would do.  I thought it was aimed at
> > persons who do Free Software as paid work (either full time or part
> > time) but now that word has been removed, there's nothing to suggest
> > that.  I recommend keeping the word.
> 
> Let's try to keep "professional".

Why not put other words in there to suggest the paid work aspect?
Such as "to assist and encourage members in their paid work as Free
Software authors."

(FWIW, I'd also be uncomfortable at the inclusion of "employment" or
"full-time", which suggest free software workers as wage-slaves.)

Hope that explains,
-- 
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